While our basic, unadorned garments provide a great foundation for your wardrobe (and are quick and easy to stitch up), it’s the embellishments you add that make them truly unique and turn them into statement pieces for your growing hand-sewn wardrobe. Beads, sequins, and decorative stitches can transform a simple hand-sewn garment into an heirloom.

We have developed a variety of beading styles with which to embellish garments, and one of our favorites is Armor Beading. Armor Beading combines chop beads, bugle beads, and sequins applied in a random order. It looks beautiful as an accent around a neckline—especially when applied heavily at the edge and then fading out towards the body of the garment—as well as a stripe around a hemline. Armor Beading can also be used to fill a stenciled space.

A bead mix is now available as a product and offered in six colors now—Black, Dark Grey, Gold, Red, Silver, and White—to use on a wide range of available colors of organic cotton jersey. As with any of our beading techniques, Armor Beading works best with our Beading Needles and a single strand of Button Craft Thread.

Armor Beading is used in the June’s Spring fabric treatment (shown above) as well as Beaded Stars. Find instructions and a Fabric Map for June’s Spring on pages 118 – 119 of Alabama Studio Sewing + Design.